


Children

by KaeStela



Category: Starbound (Video Game)
Genre: Aram is overworked, Family, Family Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-05 16:56:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11582304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaeStela/pseuds/KaeStela
Summary: In which Aram tries to be a good and responsible father, but his twins have other ideas.(Occurs 16 years before As Long as We Remember)





	Children

Aram studied the report in front of him, resisting the urge to turn his focus from the dry paragraphs to the toddlers playing in front of his desk. Maxim was getting to the “climb everything” phase, but the toy weasel should keep him occupied, and Aram had work to do…

A distressed squeak made him look up. “Yana, do not chew on your brother’s ear.”

She let go.

The apex finished his reading, then read through the report again. Something was off, and he could not place it. The phrasing, perhaps… A fake? Aram tried to be a good father; he was normally unwilling to leave his youngest children unsupervised for more than a moment. But missing a security matter would cost far more dearly. His office should be safe enough, anything risky well out of their reach…

“Stay here,” he told his children as he collected the report and stood up. Both of them looked up at him for a moment, then went back to playfully tussling across the rug.

Maxim had been watching the door for a while now. People came and went through it. It didn’t move when the little apex pushed on it, but Father had made it open just now, touching that shiny knob up there. Something so pretty would feel nice to touch. Maxim stretched up, his chubby little fingers just catching the knob.

Yana stopped playing when she heard the door open again. Father just left. Was he back? No, that wasn’t him… She saw her twin brother fall over as the door swung open. He smiled broadly as he got back up and made his unsteady way outside. Fear prickled in Yana’s tiny belly. She had never been on her own before. “Maxi?” she called. “Maxi!” Nothing. She didn’t want to be alone! The little girl scrambled up and hurried after her brother as fast as her short legs would take her.

Aram was not gone long; he made sure of that, his intimidating stare a little darker than usual as he handed off the report and explained his finding. The guard practically tripped over his own tongue in stammering out an affirmative and a promise to deal with it right away instead of the usual doubt and questions. His long strides carried him back to his office and stopped short; the door was open. Caution flared along his neck. He drew the long dagger at his hip, concealing it with his arm as he gingerly nudged the door open. No obvious traps. No children.

Aram had never been given to strong emotion, but cold dread sank hard in his gut. Gone. Even now, though, he managed to stay outwardly calm, his practiced eye sweeping the room. No sign of struggle, nothing else out of place. No sign of Maxim’s stuffed weasel. Willing, then, or taken by someone who knew how to deal with small children. As he stepped inside, he noticed the tiny fingerprints on the doorknob and an unwelcome third option presented itself. Wandered off, and in a Miniknog training facility.

Forcing all of the growing fear out of his face, Aram looked up at the apex scientist bust above his door. “Officer Sewick,” he commanded, addressing the woman he knew was watching from behind those hidden camera eyes, “scour the recent camera footage. My children are missing.”

 

Nyota was experiencing a bit of an epiphany as she listened to Instructor Kasun explain the importance of radio silence and how not to remove your own fingers with explosives. She was still focused; this was a vital lesson, after all. She enjoyed having all her limbs attached. But for the first time, she found herself growing impatient for the lecture to end. Mentor Aram would be giving her another lesson in the afternoon. Nyota hoped it would be quarterstaves again; she wanted to show him how much she had improved. The sentiment surprised her. It had been a very long time since she had been driven by anything but obedience.

Movement distracted her; she risked glancing away for an instant and found herself staring. There were small apex over there. Children. She could not remember the last time she had seen children. They looked very much alike; something about their pale blue skin and white-blonde hair was familiar, but she didn't bother trying to place it. They were nervous. Frightened. Were they lost? Concern rose as she realized just how dangerous it was for them to be lost here, of all places. Instructor Kasun had just mentioned demonstrations.

Nyota clicked her heel twice on the metallic floor and caught Kasun’s eye as he stopped speaking. Irritation darkened his state as he turned to face her. “What is it, Saimiri?”

He followed her hand as she pointed and the irritation vanished, replaced by confusion, then anger and fear. “Isret’s… How-- Who let them in?” he demanded.

The class was frozen in surprise. Most of them hadn't registered what was going on yet. The silence seemed to only anger Kasun further and he started toward the children. “You little-- Come here!”

Both children went stiff with fright as they saw the big man striding toward them; the little boy started to cry as the girl clung to him. Nyota felt the oddest stabbing sensation in her chest as she watched. “Sir,” she called, making Kasun stop from sheer surprise that one of his students had interrupted him. “Sir, allow me.”

Kasun regarded her for long enough that she felt certain he was about to punish her audacity, but he nodded and jerked a thumb at the cowering pair. “Don't let them interrupt.”

“Yes, sir.”

Nyota walked slowly toward them, feeling the heavy doubt from Instructor Kasun as she passed, but for once that didn't matter. The children were watching her. They were shaking--had she ever been that small? She stopped a few paces from them and crouched down, holding out her hands. “Will you come to me?”

The little girl stared back at her, hazel eyes wide. The boy--Her brother? Nyota wondered--wasn't sobbing anymore, but he kept his face buried in the girl’s shoulder.

“It's alright,” Nyota tried again. She shifted a little closer. “I will keep you safe.” She could hear Kasun talking behind her. It did not sound like he had gone back to the lesson yet.

The girl started toward her, earning a frightened whine from her brother as she pulled away. She stopped, looking cross, and pulled harder. “Off, Maxi!”

“Maxi?” Nyota asked before he could start crying again. “Is that your name?”

He looked up at her, eyes wide and red, and nodded. “Maxim,” he said. His voice was only a little wobbly as he held out a slightly bedraggled plush weasel. “Slinker.”

“It's nice to meet you,” Nyota said, earning a tiny smile.

“I'm Yana,” the little girl declared, freeing herself as Maxim dried his face on the weasel's felt hide.

“I am Nyota.” She held very still as Yana approached her.

Yana looked at her hard. “Are you strong?” she asked.

Nyota smiled gently. “A little.”

Yana nodded a few times, then stepped forward and put her arms around Nyota’s neck; it took a lot of control for Nyota to not jerk back in surprise. “Show me,” the little girl insisted.

Only half certain she was doing what was asked, Nyota tucked one arm under Yana’s legs and curled the other behind her back as she stood up. Yana gasped, then giggled and leaned against Nyota’s shoulder. Nyota was just brushing the girl’s hair out of her face a bit when she felt something bump her leg. She looked down. Maxim clung to her, arms locked around her knee. A different kind of ache, an almost pleasant one, settled in Nyota’s heart as she reached down to stroke his hair.

 

Aram was growing frantic. How long had passed? Still no word from Officer Sewick and no sign of the twins. It was growing harder to keep the anxiety off his face as his feet carried him through the halls far quicker than their usual pace, head turning from side to side as he scoured everything for any hint that his children had passed this way.

The earpiece on his collar hummed. Aram snatched it and slid it over his ear; he almost swore with disappointment when it was Instructor Kasun’s voice that asked, “Mentor Isret, sir?”

“Yes, what is it?” Aram said, quite a bit sharper than usual.

“Please come to Demonstration Room Five, sir. We found your children.” Before Aram could ask details, Kasun hung up.

The dread was far worse as Aram almost ran to the demonstration room. Found. That could mean anything, hurt or--he forced the unwanted thoughts away.

A lesson was in progress when Aram arrived, which told him nothing. Kasun hated taking any time out of his lectures. He searched the crowd for any familiar--there, a small white-blonde head leaning against a grey-clad shoulder. Aram took a few steps forward, then stopped as he recognized the face above that shoulder: his student, Nyota, with Yana tucked against her hip and Maxim clinging to her leg.

Nyota felt his presence and looked up, then blinked twice, unsure if her eyes were playing tricks on her. She could have sworn she saw the ghost of a smile in Aram’s expression for just an instant. But it was gone now, and she returned his gesture of greeting. “Mentor Aram, sir.”

“Nyota. You found my children, I see.” His voice was steady and measured as ever.

Both Maxim and Yana looked up, their faces brightening instantly. “Father!”

Surprise caught her for just a second, followed by recognition. Of course they were his, the same hair and skin color, the same high cheekbones and slightly curved eyes, and Yana with his sharp nose. She settled for a neutral “Yes, sir,” and tried to set Yana down.

Delighted as the little girl was to see her father again, Yana clung tighter to Nyota. She didn’t want down yet! “No, no, no,” she insisted, snuggling more comfortably against Nyota’s side.

Nyota tightened her hold so she wouldn’t drop the shifting child, then gave Aram an apologetic, slightly helpless look. “I’m sorry, sir…”

He knew he should have reclaimed Yana himself then, an early lesson in obedience, but Aram simply rested a hand gently on his daughter’s tiny shoulder and turned to watch Kasun’s lecture. “It can wait,” he said simply. There was no harm in letting the three of them enjoy it a little longer.

**Author's Note:**

> Story was inspired by [this sketch](https://nyotasaimiri.tumblr.com/post/160546422118/i-had-a-random-idea-and-just-had-to-draw-nyotas). Thank you for reading!


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